Kidnapped
by artigiano
Summary: Danny gets kidnapped, and the team have to try to save him. Eventual DL
1. Chapter 1

**_Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own any of CSI: NY...sadly. :) It's all CBS. I keep offering to take it from them, but for some reason, they don't think $10 is enough for the show. :)_**

**_Read and review and tell me what you think!_**

* * *

Lindsay Monroe's pager beeped and she put down the piece of evidence that she was holding. Looking down, she could see that it was from Mac. _Meet me in my office ASAP. _Puzzled, she put her supplies away and the evidence back in the locker. She went out the door and saw that both Stella and Hawkes were walking down the hallway in the direction of Mac's office also. Their faces were worried and slightly puzzled.

When they all reached the door together, Lindsay knew something was up. "Did Mac page you?" She asked her co-workers. They both nodded. "Something about a 911…he said that we needed to be in the office as soon as possible."

Lindsay's stomach did a flip-flop. Something was _definitely _up.

She opened the door and the three went in. "Mac?" Lindsay jumped slightly when her boss turned around- the expression on his face was as grim as Lindsay had never seen. Glancing around the office, she suddenly realized that all of her colleagues were here expect one- Danny.

"Mac, what is it? Why did you need us all here? And where's Danny? Shouldn't he be here also?"

At the mention of Danny's name, Mac's face turned slightly grayer, if possible. "Stella, Lindsay, Sheldon," He looked at each of them in turn and then spun around to look out the window. "Danny's missing." Stella gasped, Hawkes swore and Lindsay felt like her heart was now on the floor, maybe in pieces. "He was supposed to meet Flack for drinks last night and never showed. Don figured that it was just because something came up with Louie. This morning, when he didn't show up to work, Flack went to his apartment, and the place was a mess. There was obviously a struggle, and there was blood on the walls. The blood type matches Danny." Stella's face turned white. "But there wasn't a lot of it- he should still be alive. Until we find him, his case is our number one priority."

Stella nodded. "Of course. We just want him back."

Lindsay was sure that her face betrayed all emotion-it always did. If either Sheldon, Stella, or Mac had chosen that moment to glance at her, they would have seen unmasked fear, uncertainty, and concern. She couldn't understand- Danny had asked her if she wanted to do dinner last night, but she couldn't. Her parents were visiting for the week. She had just assumed that drinks with Flack had been an afterthought.

Her mind snapped back to the present. Mac was saying something. "…and besides that, we don't have anything. Stella, how about you and Lindsay start processing that?" Stella nodded her consent and pulled Lindsay by the arm out of the room.

"What are we doing?" Lindsay asked her co-worker, her mind still in a daze.

Stella smiled grimly. "There were a few prints, hairs and blood samples at the scene. Mac wants us to start on that. Hawkes and Mac are going back to Danny's place to see if they can see anything they missed before." Stella started to walk away as Lindsay nodded, but stopped when she realized that the younger CSI was no longer with her. "Lindsay, are you okay?"

Lindsay said yes, but the tears filling her eyes were betraying her emotions once again. _They must read me like a book. _She thought sarcastically.

Stella laid a hand on the blonde's arm. "What do you say that we take a break before we start working?" Lindsay nodded gratefully. Since transferring here, Stella had really become a close friend, and she always seemed to know exactly the right thing to say.

They walked into the break room and both grabbed a cup of coffee. Lindsay sat there, stirring for a second before speaking. "I just don't know…It's all happening so fast. Last night I was out to dinner with my parents and now, Danny's missing and it seems like there isn't anything I can do. I mean, Danny had asked me to dinner last night, and it seemed like something was finally going to happen between us, but I couldn't go…maybe if I had, then he would be here right now, calling me Montana and joking about a case. I just…" She trailed off and a single tear ran down her cheek.

"Lindsay, you can't blame yourself for what happened to Danny. Even if you had gone to dinner with, something still could have happened. You cannot, _cannot _beat yourself up over this." Stella's voice was slightly comforting, but it didn't stop the tears from flowing down Lindsay's face.

"I know, I know…but still. It's just so sudden I guess…" She wiped the tears off of her cheeks, embarrassed. "I understand that it isn't my fault, really I do. Thanks Stella."

The older woman nodded, and patted Lindsay's arm. "Are you ready to go and process?" Lindsay nodded, and they started down the hall to the lab.

* * *

Danny awoke, body aching, and he could feel something warm trickling down his forehead. He didn't know where he was, but the air was stale, and it was dark. As he tried to move, he realized that his hands and feet were bound. Not only that, but he realized that he was in a confined space. Putting the clues together, Danny finally figured out that it was mostly likely a trunk. Suddenly, there was a bump in what Danny assumed was a road and his head banged against the roof of the trunk.

He started to panic, but forced himself to be calm and look at things rationally. First, he tried to recall what had happened up to this point in time. He remembered getting off of his shift yesterday and riding the subway home. He had stopped by Mario's to get a takeout pizza, but ended up eating it there anyway- there was a Yankee's game on. After dinner, he had headed to his apartment. He remembered going inside and sitting down to watch TV. And then there was a struggle- there had been someone in his apartment. He remembered pulling out his gun but some one else hit his head from behind; that must be why his head hurt. Something was held over his mouth and he lost consciousness. After that, he couldn't recall anything until now, waking up in what he supposed was a car trunk.

* * *

Lindsay sighed- the evidence was getting them nowhere. The hairs in the apartment belonged to Danny, Louie Messer, and a couple in the family room even were Lindsay's. Stella questioned her about it, and she truthfully told her she had dropped off some dinner to Danny a week ago when he was sick.

The blood also belonged to Danny, although there was an unknown sample that wasn't in the system. And the prints were a dead-end too- they were Danny's, Lindsay's, Louie's, or another unknown contributor.

Lindsay had become nauseous when looking at the photos from the crime scene. There was so much blood- almost all of it Danny's- that she just wasn't sure if he was even still alive. Things just weren't looking up for him.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Stella kept giving her worried, concerned looks, especially when she sighed. She just wanted to go home, and pretend that none of this had ever happened.

Finally, after what seemed to be eternity, they had a breakthrough. "Lindsay!" Stella's face looked up in excitement from the computer she had been looking at. "Look at this."

Lindsay walked over to see what had gotten Stella so excited. "What?"

"Well, I was reconstructing the crime scene, trying to see something that I had maybe missed before." She pointed to the screen. "Danny's gun lay here, right?" Lindsay nodded. "And the chair was pointing that way, correct?" Again, Lindsay nodded. "And over here was the blood pattern on the wall." For the third time, Lindsay nodded her head. "Well, if you put it all together, you can see that there were two attackers." Lindsay's face must have shown here confusion because Stella continued. "The gun is on the floor over here- Danny would have been able to shoot one attacker. The chair is facing toward the bedroom, like somebody tripped on it going into the room. That means that the attacker drove Danny back. Then, in the bedroom, Danny's blood covers the wall opposite of where the chair is placing- the opposite way of how Danny is facing, I assume. By the blood splatter, someone must have hit him from behind. Somehow there were two people in that house."

"Okay…but how does that get us any farther in the case?" Lindsay questioned, still not really understanding. "That doesn't give us any more information then we had before."

"But that's where your wrong," Stella half-gloated. "We now know that there were three people in the apartment at the time- Danny, attacker one and attacker two. If Danny was facing the first attacker, and the second one hit him from behind, the second man must have been where Danny couldn't see him. Where in Danny's bedroom could he have hidden?"

Lindsay grinned for the first time that day. She was beginning to understand. "The closet!" She grabbed some photos and pointed it out to Stella. "You can get into Danny's bedroom from the kitchen and the main hallway- there are two entrances. The one from the kitchen goes into his bathroom and the main hallway goes into his room. The first attacked must have been driving Danny back into the bedroom so the second man could knock him out. He would have had to hide, and the closet was the perfect spot. Did we print the knob on the door at all?"

Stella shook her head. "No, but we'll have too."

* * *

It took the two women 20 minutes to reach the apartment. Lindsay sighed internally; she wished that she had been coming to his apartment under different circumstances. Ever since she had arrived, Lindsay's feelings for Danny had just kept escalating. What had begun as a simple crush was developing into something she couldn't really understand. When he had asked her to dinner the night before, she had been so excited- more excited then she had ever been about a guy. Something about Danny just made her feel alive.

Of course, his reputation as a ladies' man didn't do anything to ease her nerves, but she didn't really care. All she wanted was him- to hold him, to kiss him, to love him.

She blushed, just thinking of it, and Stella caught the color in her cheeks. "What in the world are you thinking about, Lindsay that could have turned you that color?"

Lindsay blushed harder. "Nothing."

Stella was about to say more, but they were at the apartment. Stella let them in and started toward the bedroom. Again, Lindsay couldn't help but wish that she was here with Danny and under different circumstances.

She dallied a bit in the main room, studying things about the place that she hadn't before. The way that he was so organized and tidy- how he kept his CDs and DVDs. She grinned- he was just as meticulous as her.

Finally, Stella called from the bedroom, breaking Lindsay out of her search. "Hey Lindsay! I got a print and a hair sample from the closet! I've just got to print the handle and we're done!"

Lindsay nodded, although Stella couldn't see her.

"Lindsay!" Stella's voice came through again.

"What?"

"I've got something."

* * *

**_Well, what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Want more? Well,I guess it really doesn't matter if you want more or not, because there _will _be more:)_**

**_Charlotte_**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Well, here you go. The next chapter! But don't worry, I haven't revealed all yet...but if you want another chapter you are going to have to review!_**  
****

**_Disclaimer: Do I really have to go over this again? I really don't own any of the show or characters..._**

**_I just want to say thanks for all the support that that I've gotten with this story- all the reviews are so nice. But I really have to "dedicate" this chapter to _**PhyscoBlonde4eva. **_She was the one that BEGGED me to put out another chapter!_**

* * *

They were back at the lab, running the newest print through the system. Lindsay was trying not to get her hopes up, but it was hard. Finally, after what seemed to be eternity the system ran out of prints and Lindsay's hopes dashed to the ground. Tears of anger threatened to well up in her eyes, but she forced them back; now wasn't the time to be emotional.

"Stella…" An idea hit her. "You got something off of the handle besides a print, right?"

Stella smiled and nodded. "I almost forgot! There was a substance on the door and I wasn't sure what it was. I sent it to trace, and the last that I heard, they had kicked it over to DNA. Do you want to head over there now?"

Lindsay beamed. "Of course- it might get us a new lead."

As they were walking over, the two caught up with Mac and Hawkes. Stella filled them in on what they had found- apparently, the two men had left Danny's place just minutes before they arrived. Neither Mac nor Hawkes had thought about checking the closet handle and congratulated the woman on doing so. The four CSIs walked to DNA together, hoping for some miracle that would lead them in the right direction.

* * *

The car stopped, and Danny hit his head on the roof of the trunk. He hissed in pain, but soon became quiet as he heard footsteps coming around the back of the car. Pretending to be unconscious still, he relaxed his head and waited for a moment to attack.

The trunk lifted and Danny opened his eyes a tiny bit- he wanted to see who had taken him. A bald man with dark brown eyes stared down at him menacingly. The man's eyes were set close together, over a pointed nose. His lips were this and pale- in short, he look terrifying and made Danny's skin crawl. All of a sudden, another man appeared behind the first one, and Danny's was surprised to see that he looked almost exactly the same; it was easy to see that they were brothers. However, the first man had brown eyes, the second attacker had more hazel eyes, although they were just as horrible looking. His nose was not as pointed as the first man's, but his eyes were just as close together. His lips were almost non-existent, and the part of the flesh that Danny could see was white. After noticing this about the man's face, Danny could also see that he had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. After seeing his attackers, Danny almost wished that he had kept his eyes shut.

Danny was jarred out of his thoughts when one of the men roughly pulled him from the trunk. He had kept his eyes open in tiny slits, and could see that he was in a warehouse of some kind: there were concrete walls and a concrete floor, with a metal garage door that it seemed they had just driver through. He realized that everything was still clear, and almost laughed; his glasses- though cracked and banged up- were still on his face.

They shoved him to the ground and pulled something else from the trunk that Danny hadn't noticed. It looked like a grocery bag, but Danny wasn't really sure he wanted to know what was in it. They pulled him over to a wall and tied him to a bar that was sticking out of it. One of the men reached into the bag and pulled something out, something that looked like ice water. Not really wanting to be cold on top of being in pain, he moaned and pretended to wake up. Opening his eyes fully for the first time since being in the trunk, he cringed at light that was assaulting his senses.

"He's awake." One of the men, the one with the hair, said aloud, though Danny wasn't sure if it was to his brother or to him. However, the first thing that Danny noticed was that this man's voice was just as horrible as everything else about it.

The tone of his voice was menacing, which paired with the deepness in which he spoke. But that wasn't what gave Danny shivers- it was the fact that there was no emotion in his voice at all. It was cold and unfeeling, hard and steely. Danny felt as though he was talking to a block of ice.

"It's about time." The bald man answered his brother. This man's voice was higher than his brothers. It was just as frightening, if not more. Danny cringed, and immediately regretted it- it showed his captors that he was afraid. He hoped they hadn't noticed his shiver, but was sadly mistaken.

"Is little Danny boy scared?" The bald man asked in a mocking voice? "Look at me and tell me you're scared!" He suddenly demanded of Danny. Danny looked up at him, but did not say anything. "Tell me you are scared!" The bald man was shouting, and somehow the phrase seemed eerily familiar to Danny. He decided not to dwell on it, and rather just focus on being calm. "Tell me now!"

Danny just continued to look at the bald man. Out of the corner of his eye, Danny could see the other man reaching into the paper bag and pulling something out that looked like a metal baseball bat.

"You should have said it…" The man with the dark hair told Danny in a threatening voice. He pulled back the baseball bat and started to beat Danny with it.

Danny tried to remain conscious, but the pain was too much for him and he quickly slipped into darkness.

* * *

Stella could help but smile- the four CSIs had just left the DNA lab with some of the best news all day. The substance found on the handle of the closet door turned out to be spit. When the techs ran the DNA through the system, they didn't get a direct match, but rather a 70 match to a Ryan Diker; this meant they were looking for Diker's siblings.

Lindsay had run ahead to pull the file on Diker, leaving Stella, Mac, and Hawkes to talk. "Mac, do you really think that we'll find him alive?" Stella asked in a hushed tone. She didn't want to seem pessimistic, but the evidence and amount of blood wasn't pointing in the right direction.

Mac's face hardened. "Of course we will. We have to." Neither Stella nor Hawkes decided to ask him to clarify. Both just nodded and the three settled into somber silence. They were startled out there thoughts when Lindsay stuck her head out the door and waved them over.

As soon as they walked in, Lindsay started talking. "I got the file and started looking it over right away. A year ago, Danny investigated the murder of Libby Anthony. She worked as a waitress over on 5th and met Diker there one night. Diker took a liking to Anthony and started to stalk her. But then when Diker found out that Anthony had gotten engaged to her boyfriend of two years, he lost it. He had become obsessed with her and he thought that she belonged to him. One night, he followed her home and strangled her. Her boyfriend alerted the police two days later when she missed a rehearsal dinner for the wedding. After Danny processed the scene, he brought the body to the morgue and did all the regular stuff. Then came the big break in the case- Sheldon here," Lindsay took a breath and looked at Hawkes. "Well, do you remember?"

The former coroner nodded. "Yeah…I fingerprinted her neck, seeing if I could get anything and found prints on her neck. Diker had something on his hands before he strangled Libby and I was able to pull his prints off of her neck."

Lindsay bobbed her head in consent. "Exactly. Diker was in the system for an assault charge earlier in the year, so Danny and Flack made the arrest. Danny testified at the case and was the key witness that convicted him. The trial ended about two months ago and then last week his sentencing was decided- Diker was sentenced to life in prison." She paused for a second and then went on. "Like I said before, Danny was the key witness in the case and his was the testimony that ended up swaying the jury to convict Diker of being guilty. The day that the judge read Diker's sentence, his brothers were in the courtroom and started getting violent; they made threats to Danny's life and the judge's life. If the DNA came back to one of the brothers, then they must have decided that it was time to carry out their threats." Lindsay finished with a sigh- Danny's prospects of still being alive were now slim to none. Those two men were obviously violent and had wanted everyone that cared about Danny to share the same pain that they had about losing their brother.

* * *

After the baseball bat had come a whip. Not a fuzzy black one like girls carried around on Halloween…no, this whip looked like it had come out from one of the old western movies. The leather was cracked and faded, but that didn't ease the sting of the tip as it hit Danny's skin.

After the bald man had tired with the whip, the man with the hair brought another item out of the bag- a gun. Danny's heart stopped at the sight of it. However, the men didn't intend on shooting him- yet. Instead, they beat him with the butt of it. Danny almost wished that they would just shoot him instead and put him out of his misery. Almost.

His thoughts kept returning to Lindsay, and all the things that he had never gotten to say to her. Even through the pain and suffering, he thought of the that blonde bombshell, that one girl- no woman- who did something to him that no one of the opposite gender had done to him before. When they touched, his skin felt like they were on fire, and when their eyes met, he felt as though she could see right into him; see all his fears, his hopes, his longings, his desires.

As the pain intensified, Danny had one last conscious thought: _I'll never get to tell her that I love her.

* * *

_

Mac put down a piece of paper and looked up at the rest of his team. "Ryan Diker has two brothers- they're twins actually; Ian and Craig Diker. After Lindsay informed us of what they said at the courtroom, I checked into their background a little further. Two days ago. Ian rented a car at a local shop for the week. I figured that I could head over there and get some more information about the twins. Sheldon, I want you to go over to Ian's apartment and see what you can find. Stella, I want you and Lindsay to go to Craig's apartment and do the same. Is everybody clear on that?" The other three nodded, and with that final word, they each left to do their jobs.

* * *

Mac drove to the rental shop in somber silence. He knew that the longer Danny was missing, the less likely chance they had of finding him alive. If Lindsay was right and those two maniacs really had taken Danny, then…well, Mac didn't even what to think about what they could be doing to him.

Danny was somewhat like a son to the older man. Even after some of the things that Danny had, and even though sometimes Mac could be extremely disappointed with him, he was still one of the best CSIs on the team. He may have seemed like a "bad-boy" to everyone, even somewhat of a ladies man, but once you got to know him, he was caring and gentle. Although, those traits were never something that Danny would own up to being. Mac smiled- if he had ever had a son, he imagined that Danny would be like him. Reckless and wild, but still strong and compassionate.

* * *

As soon as Mac flashed his badge to the receptionist at the rental shop, she had let him through the door into the sales office. He found out who had rented the car out to Ian and went and spoke with him.

"Mr. McDougal, I spoke with your receptionist and she told me that you recently rented out a Sudan to an Ian Diker." Mac questioned the sales man.

"Please, call me Sam." The man had a beer belly, was bald and slightly on the hefty side, but there was something about him that made him personable. He wasn't like a regular salesman, but rather was like an old buddy that you went fishing with every weekend. "But yeah, this man, Mr. Diker, came in on Monday, looking for a car. He didn't really care about the style, make, or dealer, just wanted something quick. Said something about needing to transport something." Mac suppressed a shiver- he could have been talking about Danny's body. "Kinda gave me the creeps though. Had long black hair that he pulled back into a ponytail, eyes that were set close together, thin nose and lips, and a deep voice. Let's just say he wasn't someone that you would want to associate yourself with often."

Mac nodded, listening. "Do you think that you could describe this man to a sketch artist?" He hoped that this Sam McDougal would be able to and the NYPD would be able to put a broadcast out on him. It might lead them to Danny quicker if someone spotted this man- or his brother, for that matter.

Sam nodded. "Sure…"

* * *

After the gun had been put away, a metal rod had been taken out of the bag, almost a pipe or something. Danny swam in and out of consciousness, the pain almost mind numbing. He resigned himself to his fate, and prepared to close his eyes for one last time.

* * *

**_Heehee, here we go! Another chapter...but don't worry, there will be more to come! Hope you enjoyed it...tell me what I did right or wrong and if you have any great ideas, you can tell them to me!_**

**_Charlotte_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_And now, chapter 3 of Kidnapped! And I just want to say that I had to put this out before the 18th for _**DontLookNowButDeathIsComing! **_I told you I could do it!_**

**_This chapter is more about the way the characters are feeling, and we get a little insight into Lindsay's past. I promise that the next chapter will be more action filled and the team will find Danny. :)_**

**_Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything... :(_**

**_By the way, thanks so much for all the reviews! It's so nice to know that you all like my story!_**

* * *

The pain in Danny's body escalated, but for some reason, he didn't care anymore. A few minutes ago, he was preparing to die, but now…well, he realized that dying was something he had on his agenda. He had so many things planned for his life that dying just didn't fit in.

He had wanted to go to Italy once more, visit all the little towns that he had missed on his last visit. He wanted to go up on the Empire State Building in the middle of a thunderstorm to see the lightning closer then he ever had before, and he wanted to see Washington DC at least once in his life, especially during the spring.

But there were other things that he wanted to do. He wanted to be in a relationship with someone where every touch ignited a spark between the two that was irresistible. He wanted to get married and have children. He wanted all the normal things that people wanted in life. And he wanted her.

He wanted to have Lindsay "Montana" Monroe be the one that he was in a serious romance with, the one that he couldn't refuse. The one person that he said "I do" to and the one that he supported as they watched their children get older. But if he died, he wouldn't ever get to tell her how he felt. So dying just wasn't going to happen. Not now at least.

So instead of succumbing to the pain and misery, he fought. He fought with everything that he had. Why? Because that's who he was: a fighter. All his life, he had been one step ahead of the bullies- beating with either brawn or brain. He had always fought for the people he loved and for the things that he wanted. So he fought for Lindsay, he fought for being able to see Italy again, but mainly, he fought for himself.

* * *

Ian Diker's picture was on the news the second that Mac was able to get it from the hands of the sketch artist. Unfortunately though, so far nobody had called to report seeing him.

Worse, was the fact that both Craig and Ian's apartments yielded nothing to the CSIs; nothing that gave them any clues to where Danny could be.

Lindsay slammed her locker in frustration, cursing the Diker twins and the fact that they had Danny. It was the end of the day, and nothing had turned up. So Mac was sending her and Stella home for a while, and said he would call if Hawkes, Flack, or he found anything else.

Stella watched the younger woman from the doorway. "Linds, we'll find him. You can't get discouraged."

Lindsay looked at Stella with angry tears. "How can you say that? How do you really know that we'll even find him alive? Those men that took him are vicious, and Danny doesn't have any help. He's probably already dead!" She paused, took a breath, and then burst into tears. "Oh, Stella, I don't want to have to process his body! I couldn't do that again!"

Stella walked over to Lindsay and pulled her into a hug. "It's okay. I promise that we'll find him." After Lindsay had calmed down a bit, Stella questioned her about her previous statement. "What do you mean you don't want to do it again?"

Lindsay looked away, not really sure she wanted to answer. But she knew that she owed it to Stella- the older woman had helped her through so much already. "When I was in Montana, I had one really close friend on my team- her name was Rose. One day, when we were processing a body, Rose heard a suspicious noise and decided to investigate. It turned out that the killer was still in the building. Rose wasn't even able to fire a shot before he shot her in the chest. She died instantly. I was the one that had to process her body…" Lindsay shivered at the unpleasant memories. "It was one of the most horrible experiences in my life. I just don't want to have to do the same with Danny." She stopped for a second, wondering if she could tell Stella what was on her mind. She decided that Stella wouldn't tell and pressed on. "Ever since my first day on the job, Danny couldn't stop teasing me or pulling pranks." She smiled at the memory. "I still when he told me to call Mac "sir." When I did, Mac got so annoyed, told me to never call him that again."

Lindsay continued. "I thought after that day that I would never get along with Danny, and that he would always be a thorn in my side. But as time went on…I don't know. Things just changed. We started having drinks after our shift sometimes, and we started to become friends. I would sometimes catch a ride with him to work, and we would do things together on the weekends if we had time. And now…" She trailed off, not really knowing how to describe the feelings that she felt for her co-worker.

Stella gave a knowing nod. "Now you look forward to seeing him, you miss him when you work on different cases, and when you touch, you feel flushed and you can't think or you can only think about him. You try to make yourself perfect around him, although sometimes you act like a complete fool. But he doesn't care, because he's just as in love with you as you are with him."

Lindsay looked up sharply, not comprehending what Stella had just said. "What?"

Stella gave a small laugh. "Oh come on, Lindsay. You don't see the way that he looks at you, the way he saves a special smile just for you, or the way that he is so nervous when you're around. And I see the way that _you _look at _him. _I see the way you blush when he complements you, and glow under his praise. You love him, just like he loves you."

Lindsay turned red; knowing that everything Stella had just said was true. "But I can't love him- I work with him."

Stella rolled her eyes. "So? Who says that work should get in the way of love? As long as you keep it out of the office, then I don't think Mac would care."

Lindsay pondered Stella's response. _Maybe she's right.

* * *

_

Sheldon Hawkes was never the type of man to get angry. In fact, he hardly ever lost his temper. But today was a different story. One of his friends was missing and could be dead, and there was nothing that he could do about it. He pounded his fist on the break room table, and swore under his breath.

Mac walked into the room at that moment. "Sheldon, are you okay?"

Hawkes felt his anger bubbling up again. "How can I be okay? Danny is missing and we've got nothing to help us find him!"

Mac smiled, for what felt like the first time that day. "I think I've got something that could change that."

* * *

**_Okay, okay, I know that this chapter is a bit shorter, but like I said before, the next chapter will be much more exciting! _**

**_Please read and review! As always, tell me what you like/hate! _**

**_Charlotte_**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Oh my gosh! Thanks for all the reviews! I especially want to givea HUGE thanks to _**Tiantian Wang**, _who helped me with so much in the story. :)_**

**_Dislcaimer: Again, I do not own any of CSI:NY...all of it belongs to CBS. _**

**_So here we go, another chapter, another piece of the story:) And or course, please read and review!_**

* * *

"_I think I've got something that could change that." _Mac Taylor's words echoed through Sheldon Hawkes' mind. "Mac…" He paused to quell his excitement. "Are you saying that we may have found where Danny is?"

Mac grinned, which was answer enough. "Let me get the whole team in here, and then I'll tell everybody."

Hawkes nodded. This was going to be great if they could find Danny.

The rest of the team filed into the break room, wondering why their pagers all read 911. Even Flack was there.

"Mac, what's going on? Did you find something new?" Stella asked their boss. After being sent home an hour ago, Lindsay and Stella were both amazed when their pagers beeped at them, telling them to return to the lab.

"I think I may have found where Danny is." He let the information sink in, and all of a sudden there were so many sentences flying around the air at once that Mac only heard phrases of each.

"_How did you…"_

"_What do you…" _

"_Really? This means…" _

"_You what?" _

Mac held up his hand, signaling for quiet. "Yes, I did find something out that might lead us to Danny." He went on, explaining the information to his eager team. "I ran a search through the database that checked if Ian or Craig Diker had recently had a large amount of money come into their possession, or if they had purchased something large with their credit cards. Nothing came up. Then I decided to search a little broader. I figured that if Ian had rented a car, then he might have rented something else and not used his credit card."

Mac paused for dramatic effect. He knew that they all wanted to know where Danny was, but his flare for the dramatic was kicking in. "It turns out that the same day that Ian rented the car, Craig rented a warehouse in downtown Manhattan- the reason that we didn't catch it sooner is because he used a money order. It wasn't too expensive, and a money order was a logical way to pay. I believe this is where Danny might be."

Lindsay's smile stretched from ear to ear. They were going to find him! They were going to find Danny.

ac was still talking, but for the second time in two days, Lindsay wasn't listening. All she could think of was how she would get to see Danny again. Maybe she would be able to tell him that she loved him.

Mac was finishing his instructions. "We're going to head over there right now, and the SWAT team is meeting us there. We are going to get Danny back, and we are going to do it today."

* * *

They pulled up the warehouse, and Lindsay was disgusted. It was on a fishing wharf, and was a dirty gray color. The walls had other stains on them that came from rain, rust, and other weathering. All in all, the place looked like it could fall apart any second.

And then there was the smell. The overwhelming smell of fish made Lindsay want to puke. Fish bloods, fish guts, fish everything; basically, it stank.

The look and the smell was all that Lindsay could think about as she pulled on a Kevlar vest. Usually it would the NYPD that would break in, take care of the suspects and do the sweep through looking for anything important. But today, just because it was one of their own, the police were letting the entire team come in with them the first time through, making sure they got to Danny quicker.

There was an ambulance outside with all of the police cars, getting ready to transport Danny to the hospital…or the morgue, but Lindsay didn't want to think about that.

Finally, it was time. The SWAT team gave the all-clear signal, and they drew forward, guns drawn. There was a side door that they entered though, and when they kicked it down, they announced your presence. What Lindsay saw made her heart drop to the floor.

Danny was tied to what looked like a bar sticking out of the wall. He was hanging limply off of it, and she couldn't see if he was breathing. His glasses, amazingly enough, were still on his face, though cracked and twisted. His face was bloody and bruised, and his lip was swollen to an alarming size. His t-shirt was ripped, and through it, Lindsay could see a bone poking through his skin. He had obviously taken a beating.

But above all that, it was the sight of a man holding a gun to Danny's head that scared her the most. And it didn't look like he was afraid to use it.

The other man, the one with the hair, was now pointing the gun at the intruding SWAT team. "Put your weapons on the ground and step away from the hostage!" A man from the police force yelled.

The man gave a short bark of laughter. "You're too late! If you even try to shoot me, Craig will put a bullet into the head of your little friend here. So you all will put your guns on the ground and walk out of here like nothing happened."

Lindsay panicked. She didn't doubt that the threat would ring true. When they didn't put their guns down though, Craig turned around and said something to his brother that Lindsay couldn't hear. All of a sudden though, Craig pointed the gun instead to Danny's stomach and fired.

* * *

Danny felt extreme pain in his stomach, harsher than any before. _I've been shot._ The thought ran over and over in his mind. _I'm going to die. _

He couldn't believe that after everything he had been through, he was going to die now. He hadn't been really sure if he was delirious when he saw Lindsay, Mac, Stella, Hawkes, and Flack come through the door, guns in front of them. But then he knew that they were really there when he heard the man with the hair talk to them. He wasn't really sure of what they were saying because he was swimming in and out of consciousness. But then he heard what the man with the hair said to the bald man- the one with the gun to his head.

"Shoot him in the stomach. They aren't complying." And then the pain had hit him and darkness came at long last.

* * *

More shots were fired and soon both Ian and Craig Diker were dead, blood pooling out from multiple gun shots. After both had died, Lindsay and the others had run to Danny, untied him and had the medics come in. The crimson stains on his shirt made Lindsay's heart ache, especially since the blood wouldn't stop pouring out of the gaping wound in his stomach.

It was decided that Lindsay could ride with Danny in the ambulance, after much prodding on Stella's part. She held his hand the entire way to the hospital and didn't let go until they wheeled him out through the emergency room doors.

* * *

The team had gathered in the waiting room, doing exactly that: waiting. Finally, Lindsay could take it anymore. The silence, the worry, the waiting, the uncomfortable silence, just everything. So she stood up and left to get some coffee, not really caring if the others wanted her to stay.

The cafeteria wasn't that busy; mainly full of nurses on break and people like her that couldn't stand the waiting. She walked to the counter, ordered a coffee and listened in to the many conversations around her. Suddenly, she zoned in on one particular dialogue. A couple of nurses standing near her were talking about a patient that sounded just like Danny.

"…young blonde boy. I would imagine that he would be sweet and caring if I knew him in real life though." An older nurse was saying to her companion.

"Shame though, I don't think he's going to make it- so many broken bones, so many bruises. And his heart!" The young brunette nurse replied.

"What about his heart?"

"It stopped!"

"What?"

"I'm telling the truth! They had to restart his heartsomething likefour times, maybe more." The brunette shook her head. "It was horrible- the doctors aren't sure if he's going to make it."

Lindsay had heard enough. Fighting back tears, she left her coffee sitting on the table and went back to the waiting room with the rest of her team and didn't leave again until the doctor came out.

They waited for a long time. Finally, after many hours a doctor came out. "Mr. Taylor?" Mac nodded and waited for the doctor to continue. "I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. There were a few complications with the surgery that we didn't expect."

Mac tensed, suddenly worried. "Is Danny okay?"

"Mr. Messer is in the recovery room right now. He's doing much better than he was before. We had to repair his stomach lining where the bullet penetrated and there was heavy internal bleeding. If he was not brought here when he was, he would have been dead in a matter of minutes. He has four broken ribs, two of which punctured his lungs, also causing internal bleeding. One rib also poked through the skin and so we had to add some extra stitches. He has a concussion, which is part of the reason that he wasn't able to remain consciousness for very long. His collarbone is also fractured. He also has very severe bruising to mainly everywhere on his body. We also had to one screw in his collarbone to keep it together."

After processing this information for a minute, Hawkes spoke up. "What complications were there with the surgery, Dr…?"

"Dr. Ricks. When we were trying to control his internal bleeding near his stomach, an old wound opened up and started to bleed more. It seemed to be a stab wound. The bleeding was heavy and we had to give him three transfusions so he wouldn't bleed out. We also had a problem with his lungs- the bleeding and the whole in the lung caused him to…well, in simpler terms, he almost drowned. We had to restart his heart five times during the whole procedure, and at one point he did die, but we were able to bring him back."

Lindsay's mind reeled with all this information. _He almost died. If we had gotten there any later, he would have died. All those injuries…how will he ever get better?_

"Can we see him?" Lindsay realized that the small, scared, wavering voice was her own.

The doctor nodded. "He won't be awake, but I think that you could go in one at a time. We don't want to overwhelm him with people when he wakes up. I'll let you know if anything new happens." With that, Dr. Ricks walked away to talk to another family.

Mac looked around at the group of semi-relieved faces around him. He saw Flack, looking happy that his friend was found, but sad that he was so injured. He saw Stella, scared for Danny, scared because he was so hurt. He saw Hawkes- whose emotions were always so hard to read- whose faces showed exhaustion. And then there was Lindsay: scared, sad, excited, happy, uncertain, and everything else that came with someone who was concerned about a loved one. Because even Mac could see how they felt about each other.

"I'm going to go in first, and then Flack can come in, Stella, Hawkes, and then Lindsay."

Stella looked at Mac aghast. How could he do that to Lindsay? Suddenly it dawned on her that Mac wanted Lindsay to be with Danny when he woke up. Stella nodded and then Mac left, leaving the rest of the team to ponder their thoughts.

Mac sat by his employee's beside for only 10 minutes. As he left the room, Flack entered and he stopped the younger policeman by the door. "Don't stay too long right now, and if he wakes up, get Lindsay right away." Flack gave a knowing grin and entered the room where his best friend lay. After Flack left, Stella entered, and repeated what Mac had told him. In total, the others took only about 40 minutes with Danny before Lindsay was allowed to go in.

* * *

She entered the room cautiously, not wanting to wake Danny up before he needed to. Walking to the plastic chair that was beside his bed, she took his hand in hers, lightly tracing circles on his skin.

"Mmm…that tickles…" His voice was faint and hoarse, but he was awake.

"Danny?" Lindsay tried not to sound too excited, or speak too loudly- she was sure that his head hurt horribly.

"Montana…?" He trailed off when a horrible cough racked through his entire body. "What…what happened?"

She choked back a sob of happiness. "You were taken hostage by the brothers of a man that was convicted a month ago: Ryan Diker. His twin brothers Ian and Craig Diker decided that they needed to put you through the same pain that their brother went through. Your testimony was the one that swayed the jury, you know."

Danny nodded feebly. "I remember…" He stopped, and moaned as pain shot through his body. "Lindsay, I need to tell you something. All I could think—"

Danny stopped, and the steady beeping of his heart monitor suddenly turned erratic and fast. Doctors and nurses rushed in and Lindsay stepped back, the once happy atmosphere now hurried and frantic. Stethoscopes were pulled out, medicine inserted into his IV, and then he was wheeled out of the room, someone performing CPR as they went. Lindsay ran back out to the others, whose looks of confusion were evident.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know!" She stepped into Stella's hug. "All of a sudden, his heart when haywire and they wheeled him out!"

Stella patted her back, and they waited. Once again, they waited.

* * *

**_Well, there we go and I hope you like it. For all of you that are in love with Danny- including me- then don't worry! I promise not to kill Danny. :)_**

**_Please read and review, and constructive critism is always welcome!_**

**_Charlotte_**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Here we go- the final chapter! I hope that you all liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it! _**

**_Disclaimer: Duh...I don't own anything. _**

**_Hope you like it!_**

* * *

Once again, the doctor came out, looking wearily around for Mac. "Mr. Taylor," he nodded toward Mac, "We managed to fix the problem with Danny's heart. When we were in the surgery before, we didn't see the problem. Apparently, when one of his ribs broke, it poked a small hole in his left ventricle that was bleeding out. We managed to control the bleeding, and he's back in his room." Noting the questioning looks on the faces, he continued with a wry smile. "And yes, you can see him now."

With that, Dr. Ricks walked away and the whole team proceeded into Danny's room; they all wanted to be there when he woke up.

Finally, his eyes started to open and he cautiously put a hand to his bandaged chest. "What…?" He was so confused- confused as to where he was, confused as to why he was there, and confused as to why there was a heavy bandage around his chest that constricted his breathing.

"Danny, they had to do more surgery on you heart. You gave us quite a scare!" Hawkes joked nervously with Danny.

"We were all so worried. We thought that you'd died." Stella added in a quiet voice.

Mac, always one for the science, questioned Danny about what happened. "How did they take you, Danny? I would have thought you'd put up a fight."

Danny nodded, relieved to be talking about something other than how his health was. "After I got off my shift, I stopped by a local bar and watched the game that was on. I caught the subway home and was at my apartment in a matter of minutes." He paused, rubbed his head, and then looked around the room, eyes finally landing on Lindsay. "As soon as I opened my door, I knew that someone was there and so I drew my gun. A guy approached me, the man with the hair. He had a gun with him, and he told me to put my gun down, or he'd shoot me. I told him no, and he started pressing me toward my bedroom. Once we were there, someone hit on the head from behind. That's all I remember until I woke up in a car."

Mac nodded. "And after that?"

"They took me somewhere and tied me up to a bar in the wall." Danny's face showed his emotion, and his voice grew husky, his accent more pronounced as well. "First they beat me with a baseball bat," He closed his eyes, remembering the pain. "After they grew tired of that, they had a weird whip type of thing. They put the whip away and pulled a gun out and beat me with the butt of it."

Lindsay's heart ached, finally knowing what Danny had been through. Just when she thought that he had finished his harrowing tale, he took a deep breath and continued.

"Then they had something that was like a pipe and proceeded to use that against me. All during the beatings, they kept talking about their brother and how I deserved to go through the same pain that he has had to in prison. Just before you showed up, they were going to shoot me, saying that they were going to make me look like Swiss cheese." He stopped again and shuddered. The pain renewed itself and he felt each hit a second time. His anger bubbled up inside of him, and tears of rage threatened to well up in his eyes. "Did you get them Mac? Did you get those SOBS?"

Lindsay was not amazed at the animosity that dripped off of Danny's voice. "They're dead." Her voice was not above a whisper, but it gave Danny the answer that he needed.

"How?" Danny's voice matched Lindsay's: hoarse and quiet.

"After they shot you, Lindsay shot Craig- the bald one, and I shot Ian- the one with the hair." Mac answered.

They talked about the case for a bit longer, but when Danny couldn't hide his yawns anymore, everyone but Lindsay left. And even after he had fallen asleep, she sat on his bed with her hand in his.

* * *

Two weeks later, Danny was released from the hospital. The doctors had wanted to keep him for observations and because of the previous complications. Of course, the whole time, Danny was itching to get out and the fact that the doctors didn't let him walk around at all, for fear that either the stitches would rip open or the internal bleeding would start again.

But finally, the day came and Danny was almost all healed. Except for scars and bruises that remained, he was almost completely better. His collarbone was healed; there was no longer a chance of the internal bleeding starting again, and his ribs were healing quickly.

Danny was sure that he could make it home on his own, but Mac insisted that someone had to make sure he got home safely. Since both he and Stella were working on a case, as was Hawkes, Lindsay was the only person that could escort him. Secretly, that pleased him to no end- he might finally get the chance to tell her how he felt.

"Hey Danny. You ready?" Lindsay's soft voice was sounded just as eager as Danny felt.

"More than ever!" Lindsay was glad that she was the one taking him home- she wanted to tell him how she felt.

The ride was torture for Danny. Each time he wanted to say something, he chickened out. He kept telling himself that she didn't reciprocate his feelings, that he was being foolish. But then he would catch the looks, the shy glances that she gave when he thought that he wasn't looking.

When they reached Danny's apartment, Lindsay insisted that she stayed and helped him get settled. Danny wasn't sure if she was stalling for time, or if she genuinely wanted him to get comfortable.

Danny unlocked his door, stepped inside and then turned to face her. "Lindsay, I need to tell you something." The puzzled look on her face suddenly changed to joy as he cupped her face in his hands and captured her lips with his own. As he deepened the kiss, Lindsay's tongue gained entry into his mouth, and Danny realized that he had never felt like this before.

It felt like fireworks were going off, like magic as she kissed him. He never wanted the kiss to end, but when the need for oxygen overpowered their lust for each other, they pulled back.

"Wow." The word escaped Lindsay's mouth before she could even think about it.

Danny- breathing heavily- nodded his head in agreement, and then winced in pain as Lindsay hugged him tightly. "Ribs."

"Sorry!" She gave him another kiss and they both yearned for more. Danny's hands found their way under Lindsay's shirt and Lindsay's hands fumbled with the buttons of Danny's. "Montana…" He moaned into her mouth, and when she didn't stop, "Lindsay!"

She broke away, suddenly worried that he didn't want this. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"Montana! It's not that- I can't do this right now. I mean, I can hardly even hug you let alone…Well, you know." He gave a small, embarrassed grin.

"Sorry." It was Lindsay's turn to give a shy smile.

"No, Lindsay, I want you to know that I want this." He gave her a sincere look, letting her know what he said was true. "The whole time that I was in the warehouse- through everything that was happening- all I could think about was how I would never get to see you again. I didn't care that I wouldn't ever see the Yankee's play another game or the Giants..." He paused, trying to fight away tears. "All that ran through my mind was that—" His voice cracked, and Lindsay could tell that Danny was dead serious. "I knew that if I died, I would never get to tell you…I wouldn't be able to tell you that I love you."

Lindsay stared at him for a second, not really sure that she heard him correctly. Danny was wearing his emotions on his face, and Lindsay could see the hurt because she hadn't replied right away. Seeing this, she snapped out of her shock and answered. "You do?" Her voice was hopeful and excited.

"I know that it doesn't seem like it sometimes, but I really do. You stand up to me, you keep me guessing, and you are simply stunning. Every time I think that I've got you figured out, you come out of nowhere and surprise me. You're brave and courageous, but kind and gentle. You're everything I've ever been looking for in a woman, and I can't let you get away." He pulled her in for another long kiss, and when they broke away, Lindsay drank in his cerulean eyes.

"Danny, I want you to know something too. When we were looking for you, I kept getting so frustrated- I thought that when we found you, you'd either be dead or…" Tears pooled up in her eyes, falling down her cheeks. Danny leaned in and kissed them away. She laughed, and continued. "Or that when we found you, you'd be different- maybe emotionally scarred or something. But Stella took me aside and talked to me, telling me that we'd find you, because you were a fighter. And then…then she told me that you loved me…and that I loved you." She paused and looked up into his eyes. "And I really do love you Danny." They kissed each other for another long minute, and only broke apart when Lindsay's cell phone rang.

Sighing, she answered with a annoyed, "Monroe."

"Lindsay, its Mac. I've got a body on 5th that I need you to take care of." She smiled and nodded.

"Looks like I've got another body to take care of." She smiled and kissed him. "Life goes on."

"Sure it does." He kissed her gently again, whispering in her ear. "Sure it does."

* * *

**_Well, that's the end. Sorry if it was shorter than you like it to be, but oh well! _**

**_Read and review please, and tell me what you think! And if you demand a sequel, I might just be able to provide it:)_**

**_Charlotte_**


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